Ohio Valley Conference

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Women's Basketball returned to Liberty Arena, home of the Screaming Eagles, on Saturday afternoon with a 70-45 win against Oakland City University behind 26 points from graduate forward Meredith Raley.
 
Coming off only its second setback of the non-conference season on Wednesday, Southern Indiana picked up the win on Saturday to improve to 8-2 on the year and 5-0 inside the friendly confines of Liberty Arena.
 
Southern Indiana and Oakland City went back and forth to start the contest, but after a 6-6 tie at the six-minute mark of the first quarter, USI went on a 9-0 run. Sophomore forward Amiyah Buchanan gave the Screaming Eagles an early spark off the bench with a couple of second-chance opportunities on the offensive end. Playing at a high tempo early on, USI's defense forced 11 first-quarter turnovers, leading to 13 points for the Eagles. USI led 21-12 through the first 10 minutes.
 
Defenses complicated matters for each offense in the early portion of the second quarter. Neither side could find a consistent offensive rhythm, especially with the jump shot. Both teams went scoreless for three minutes in the middle of the second quarter. An inside look by Buchanan ended the scoreless drought for USI, moving the Eagles ahead by 13, 27-14, at the midway point of the second period. A couple of good defensive clearances and finishes in transition helped Southern Indiana go into halftime up 35-21.
 
After much success in the first half going into the paint, Southern Indiana continued to lean on its post play to start the second half. Buchanan and Raley reached double figures for the game with inside conversions, helping increase USI's lead to 46-28 halfway through the third. In fact, Raley scored 12 points in the third quarter to hit 20 points. USI had its best period of the game shooting for 50 percent and outscoring the Mighty Oaks 25-11 in the third quarter. The Screaming Eagles led 60-32 after three quarters.
 
Raley and the Screaming Eagles added to the big run in the fourth quarter. Southern Indiana's run reached 15-0 across eight total minutes. Raley was on the brink of matching her career-high mark of 27 points before exiting the game with a little over five minutes remaining in the contest. In the final minutes, Oakland City made a nice push, but Southern Indiana closed out the victory.
 
Southern Indiana shot over 41 percent (29-70) for the game despite an unkind three-point line as USI shot 2-15 from beyond the arc. The Eagles were 10-12 for 83 percent at the foul line. USI won the rebounding battle, 46-42, and posted 50 points in the paint. The defense forced 28 turnovers with 18 steals, leading to 30 points off turnovers for USI. Sophomore guard Triniti Ralston had seven of USI's 18 takeaways.
 
Individually, Raley's 26 points led all scorers. The forward was 12-16 from the floor and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds in the contest. Buchanan finished with 11 points and five boards.
 
Oakland City was limited to just over 28 percent shooting (17-60) overall and 20 percent from long range with four three-pointers. The Mighty Oaks were 7-12 for 58 percent at the free-throw stripe. Fifth-year senior guard Emilee Hope tallied her season average of 18 points to lead Oakland City in scoring.

CENTRAL ARKANSAS 55, LITTLE ROCK 42
CONWAY, Ark. - Little Rock and Central Arkansas traded blows for more than 35 minutes during Saturday's non-conference game at the Farris Center, with the Trojans trailing by just a point. But the Sugar Bears closed out the contest with a 12-0 run, giving UCA a 55-42 win in the latest edition of the Governor's I-40 Showdown presented by Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield.
 
Little Rock (2-6) trailed by three entering the fourth period and managed to stay within a score for most of the final frame despite making just 3-of-16 shots (18.7 percent) during the quarter. Sug Williams' layup with 4:19 to play pulled the Trojans within 43-42, but Central Arkansas (6-2) made five of its last seven shots down the stretch to stay unbeaten at home (4-0) and keep Little Rock winless (0-4) on the road.
 
Williams put up a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds to pace Little Rock, which struggled to make shots all afternoon to the tune of 27.9 percent (17-of-61). Jade Upshaw and Kinley Fisher each had 18 for the Sugar Bears, who made jut 5-of-24 shots in the first half (20.8 percent) but hit 13-of-22 (59.1 percent) in the second half. Faith Lee added 10 points for the Trojans to go with four rebounds and four assists. Jordan Holman added seven points.
 
Little Rock held UCA without a field goal for a stretch of 11 minutes in the second and third periods, taking its largest lead (23-17) with just 1:13 to play in the first half. However, the Trojans inability to make shots kept the Sugar Bears close, and the hosts would eventually regain the lead early in the third. UCA took a 36-35 advantage into the fourth frame.
 
Trailing by five in the fourth, Jayla Brooks hit a three-pointer and Lee added a layup to tie the contest at 40-apiece, but with UCA leading 43-42 midway through the period, the Trojans missed their last seven shots during the final four minutes, giving UCA its third consecutive victory in the series.

ALABAMA A&M 61, LINDENWOOD 58
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood women's basketball (4-4, 0-0 OVC) suffered their first home loss of the season on Saturday against the Bulldogs of Alabama A&M (5-3, 0-0 SWAC) by a final score of 61-58. The Lions are now even at 4-4 this season after the loss and will have one more non-conference game left this season next Saturday at home vs. Omaha.

This marked only the third time this season that the Lions were held to below 60 points in a game. Lindenwood shot 42.9% from the field against the Bulldogs including 5-16 from three-point range. The Lions struggled from the foul line going 11-23 (47.8%), their lowest percentage of the season.

Ellie Brueggemann was the lone Lion to score in double figures with 10 points. Brueggemann shot 4-11 from the floor including two threes. She also grabbed three rebounds and had two assists. Gracie Kelsey was just shy of her first double-double after getting nine points and nine rebounds off the bench in 22 minutes of action, her most in a game in 2024-25. Kelsey shot 4-7 from the floor while pulling down a team high in rebounds.

Mykayla Cunningham and Brooke Coffey also had nine points each in the loss. Cunningham only took three shots, but had 12 free throw attempts. She added four rebounds and a team-best four assists. Coffey shot 4-8 from the field while pulling down four boards and added three assists.

Lindenwood had their second most turnovers of the season with 19 against A&M. The Bulldogs were able to turn that into 17 points while Lindenwood had 10 points off turnovers on 21 turnovers by the Bulldogs. Alabama A&M scored 28 points in the paint compared to 30 by the Lions. Lindenwood was also out-rebounded on Saturday 37-30 including allowing 13 offensive boards.

During the first quarter, Lindenwood would lead after the first 10 minutes of action by a score of 19-16. The Lions had an early 7-2 lead with 7:35 remaining in the quarter after a layup by Cunningham. Lindenwood shot 8-17 from the field in the first quarter and were led by Cunningham and Kelsey with four points each.

Alabama A&M opened up the second quarter on a 6-0 run to take their first lead of the game at 21-19. The second quarter was back-and-forth with no team taking a bigger lead than three points. After LU trailed by two points, Mary McGrath added two huge free throws to tie the game just before halftime. Lindenwood headed into the locker room tied at 35 after shooting 41.4% from the floor. The Bulldogs went 3-6 from deep in the quarter to cut into the lead.

The third quarter was the deciding factor in the ball game as the Lions were outscored 15-12 in the period. Four minutes into the period, Lindenwood found themselves on a 6-0 to extend their lead to 41-35. Alabama A&M regained the lead at the 2:21 mark after a three by Mailyn Wilkerson. Kelsey made a tip-in layup to close out the quarter as Lindenwood trailed 47-50.

Lindenwood trailed by five early in the quarter, but a 5-0 run by the Lions tied the game at the 8:07 mark after a three from Brueggemann. A&M extended their lead back to five points after a foul shot by Alisha Wilson with 3:50 remaining. The Bulldogs eventually built a six point lead to keep the Lions out of reach. Aalyah Wilson made the final shot with one second remaining to end the game with a score of 61-58.